Detour
by Bramblerose4
Summary: He knew he had been too rough when Noah winced and sucked his teeth. A story that contains Noex and one sided Cesar/Noah.
1. One

**This story contains a male x male friendship that turns into a romantic relationship. If that does not interest you, then I suggest that you turn back now. If that is what you are looking for, then please journey on.**

**I do not own Generator Rex or it characters. They belong to Cartoon Network and Man of Action.**

**This story will contain Noah/Cesar sex, one sided Cesar/Noah love and Noah/Rex slash.**

**As with most of my stories this is unbeta'd so all mistakes or mine. Now that all of that is out of the way I hope you enjoy this five part story.**

**Oh, wait I lied: this takes place before the time jump. Now, that's all!**

**Detour**

"I didn't know you were coming today." Rex said cheerfully and greeted his friend with a hearty pat on the shoulder. He knew he had been too rough when Noah winced and sucked his teeth.

Rex pulled his arm away as the blond clutched his shoulder as he worked thru the pain.

"Sorry."

"It's cool," Noah repiled, turning his grimace into a wide smile.

Rex mirrored his friend's painful grin and quickly brought his hand to his side in apology.

As an EVO Rex was able to withstand more punishment than a normal human, so it took more force for him to feel anything, which made him behave less gentle with his human counterparts sometimes. It usually wasn't a problem, but lately it seemed he couldn't look at Noah without causing him pain. He wondered if Noah was just more sensitive than the other non-EVOs he usually dealt with. He started to ask, but was cut off by the beeping of his earpiece. "You've reached The Amazing Rex, how can I make your day better?" Rex answered, winking at Noah.

He watched Noah cover his mouth to stifle his laughter before looking away to focus on the call. "Right. Have you sent me the coordinates?" Rex pulled out his phone and checked for new messages. "Got it. I'll be there in five. Rex out." He closed his phone and looked backed to Noah. "Wanna go play hero?"

"Oh god, yes!" Noah replied.

Rex smiled and picked the spare bike helmet off the floor.

"Race ya to the hangar," the EVO challenged, tossing the headgear to Noah.

"You're on!" The blond accepted, easily catching the helmet.

Rex whooped in delight and then promptly cheated by building the Rex Ride and driving his hover bike to the hangar.

"Is it just me or are EVOs getting more violent?" Noah huffed in annoyance. Pulling off his ripped jacket Noah thrust it angrily into the large plastic bag the medics had provided.

Rex snorted in agreement and unscrewed the top of a water bottle. He drank half the contents from the large bottle and watched from the relative comfort of the medic truck as a team of Providence agents herded three bear-sized EVOs into a secured transport ship.

"Providence better reimburse me for this. This is the third time my jacket has been destroyed in the last two months," Noah said frowning as he lifted the bag with the ruined garment.

"Perhaps you should buy a better jacket and not ones that tear apart so easily." Rex suggested with a smirk.

"Oh you mean I should get something like the one you wear? No thanks I rather go broke buying cool jackets than wear your fashionably challenged clothes." Noah joked.

"Hey, take that back. You know my style is hot," Rex retaliated and stuck out his tongue.

"Flaming even," Noah teased and prodding Rex lightly in the ribs.

"Oh, you got jokes huh?" Rex eyed his friend. The teen's jab hadn't hurt him, but it had left a pressure where Noah had touched him that made Rex rub his side.

"Only when I get inspired," Noah stated with a grin. "Oh, man this has a hole too." The blond complained and took off his shirt.

"I'm so pleased to be your muse," Rex replied. His stomach gurlged in hunger and Rex looked out of the trailer window. He could see Six and another agent, looks like Davies, talking as field agents scoured over the scene. Not far beyond the primeter Rex saw a small resturant with painted sign he could read posted in the windows. Perfect, Rex thought and turned back to his friend.

"Hey Noah, what do you say we go out for Chinese? I could really go for a-" Rex stopped short as he caught a view of Noah's back. They were covered in bruises, each of them in various states in of healing.

Noticing Rex's silence Noah turned and caught Rex staring. He raised an eyebrow. "Problem?"

"Noe," Rex started. "What happened to your-"

"Nothing," Noah cut in and quickly turned around, pulled on a black t-shirt provided by the medics. "I'm fine. Okay? Just drop it."

"But they look painful. If you were injured in the fight you ought to have the medics take a look at you."

"I said I'm fine, Rex. Drop it." He repeated.

"But- "

"I didn't get them today," Noah blurted out. His eyes widened in surprise as if he couldn't believe what he had said only to narrow in anger as he stuffed the ruined tee shirt in the plastic bag.

"Just leave it."

Rex stared at his friend as the room drained of the friendly banter and was replaced with an unpleasant defensiveness that pit the teens against each other. Rex narrowed his eyes in defiance, matching his stubbornness against Noah's as he waited for the blond to break down and tell him what had happened to him. _That explains why he flinched when I touched him earlier _Rex thought and then wondered where else Noah had bruises. Rex scanned Noah's body taking in his red face and neck as he held his ground.

Noah shifted self-consciously under Rex's gaze as though the blond knew exactly what Rex was doing.

Eventually Rex sighed and gave in. He knew Noah was prone to clam up when he didn't want to talk about something poking at him wasn't going to Rex the answers he wanted.

"Yeah, okay, fine. I'm dropping it," Rex answered, raising his hands in surrender.

"Good." Noah gave him a sharp nod. "I'm heading home. I have homework to do."

"Do you want me to give you a ride?" Rex offered, stepping closer to Noah.

Noah shook his blond head and moved away from Rex. "No, you have work to do. I'll bum one from one of the guys."

"But I-"

"I'll see you around Rex."

"Yeah, later Noah," Rex whispered lamely, holding his hand up in farewell. He watched as his friend jumped out of the medic's trailer and approached the nearest Providence agent. Feeling confused and rejected Rex slammed the bottle down on the countertop so hard the plastic bottle folded on itself and sprayed his arm with water. With a frustrated grunt Rex shook the water off his arm and left the trailer and went in the opposite direction of Noah, his stomach twisting in urgency, not from hunger, but from the knowledge that Noah was once again keeping secrets from him.

_Why?_ Rex thought desperately, _why is he doing this again? What could Noah be holding back from me now_? Honesty was Rex's policy even if he had trouble maintaining that policy himself. _What good ever came from lying?_ True Noah hadn't actually lied about the bruises, but he sure as Hell hadn't offered any answers. In place of those answers Rex's brain supplied him with ideas of its own as it tried to figure out where the bruises had come from. They ranged from something as innocent as tripping on the basketball court to more sordid thoughts of Noah being bullied by some of Cain's goons, or worse, being kidnapped and tortured by Van Kleiss. Rex dismissed those thoughts almost as soon as he thought them. There was no way Noah wouldn't report Cain or Van if that was the case. Besides Noah's reaction to Rex seeing him was personal, almost as though he were embarrassed by them. The thought made Rex stop in his tracks. _Could it be that Noah did that to himself? _Rex blinked and looked around he has allowed his feet to control his direction and had ended standing in front of the Chinese restaurant he'd spied from the Medic trailer. His stomach gurgled in anticipation. _Well, there's no use worrying on an empty stomach, _Rex thought out loud and pushed the door open and entered the restaurant.


	2. Two

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed the first part. I hope you enjoy the second just as much. **

**Detour Part Two**

It was two weeks later when Rex saw the bruises again. He had almost forgotten about them; there had been more EVO attacks popping up in Central America causing Rex, and the majority of North American Providence to head South for a couple of weeks. It seemed Rex could not walk two yards without a plant or postman turning into monstrous EVOs that apparently decided to destroy their neighborhoods instead. Fighting the world's deadliest and most destructive EVOs kept Rex pretty busy during Providence's stay in the South. Most days Rex had just enough energy to wolf down a meal or two, before tumbling into his bed fully clothed, and too drained to undress himself let alone spare thoughts of his human friend. It was after one of these days that Rex found himself fully clothed in bed, moments away from sleep, when his phone went off and startled him awake. He checked the phone and saw that he had a text message from Noah.

_U back HQ?_

Rex replied:

_Yeah y?_

Noah's reply came seconds later.

_U up 4 a gme? _

He was tempted to tell Noah no and get some sleep, but as he stared the blond's name Rex realized that this was the first time they had had any contact since Noah had walked away upset at him in the Medic trailer two weeks ago. It was the longest time they had ever spent without communicating at all. Rex sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He had missed his friend and was eager to see him if he could stage a break out. Rex closed the text to check the time and tried to remember which day it was and who was on staff. It was early Sunday morning and if his memory was right Stevens was in charge of the sentry postings. Rex figured he could bribe the agent with the promise of salted caramel from the park in exchange for a couple of hours of freedom. Opening his phone he sent a text to Stevens asking for the weather report. A few minutes later the Providence agent's reply came back "Sunny with no chance for rain for the next four hours," Rex knew they had a deal and sent a reply to Noah's text;

_Yeah, C u in 15._

* * *

><p>It was in fact sunny with no clouds, but unpleasantly hot and everything was bleached by the sun. Rex was able to escape the heat by speeding on his hover bike as he bolted across the desert. As he neared the city Rex had to slow down which allowed the sun to catch up to him and by the time he reached the park he was covered in a thin sheen of sweat.<p>

Noah was sitting on a bench waiting for him, a basketball rested at his side. Rex retracted the Rex Ride and came up to the teen on foot. "Howdy," Rex said, tipping an imaginary hat to Noah.

The blond grinned and laughed at the sight. "I see you finally got around to watching those Westerns I leant you."

"Sure did," Rex replied and placed his hands on his belt and turned his head to spit. "They were great."

Noah made a face at the sound of Rex spitting and got up from the bench. "The courts are full, I'll see if I can talk to some of the guys and see if they're up for a game."

Rex was hesitant. "Oh."

The sound made Noah looked at him, his mouth turned down in concern. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Rex quickly said, shaking his head.

But Noah wasn't anything if not persistent. "I don't believe you. Now what is it?"

"It's nothing," Rex promised, shrugging his shoulders. Noah looked at him with an open expression, waiting for Rex to continue. Rex dug his hands into his pockets and said. "It's just I thought it would be just the two of us."

"Oh, I see, you want me all to yourself?" Noah said with a playful wink.

"Yes," Rex answered instantly. "I don't mean that in a weird way," he amended quickly as Noah's face colored at his words. "It's just I've never actually played a game before. It's kinda hard to find people who want to play with 'the EVO menace', you know?" He explained using air quotes. "And it's not as though the guys back at Providence have a lot of time to play ball with "the secret weapon.' Until I met you it was just me and Bobo shooting hoops, until he thought it was funnier to stick the ball in the gym lights and then leave it there until it came down on its own. He was right about getting it up there, but after the sixth day of waiting we got bored and Bobo shot it down with a blaster." Rex finished and smiled at the memory.

His confession had caught Noah off guard if the wide eyed expression he gave him was any indication. Rex looked away in embarrassment only to look back up at the sound of Noah chuckling. Rex frowned, that was not the response he feared nor was it the only he was hoping for.

"My bad," Noah said. His apology made Rex smile. He knew Noah was being honest when he used outdated slang. "I guess I just took it for granted that you could play, okay maybe not play but that you at least knew the rules since it's usually the thing that we do when we hang out, though now that I am thinking about it all we ever do is just shoot the ball, not anything more coordinated that that."

"There's no time like the present to learn something new," Rex gestured to the basketball courts without looking.

"It's fine," Noah followed Rex's gloved gesture and smiled. "Actually, it looks like one of the courts is free. You wanna just hang? I could teach you the rules as we go."

Rex grinned relieved that he would not embarrass himself in front of Noah. _Any_ _more_ _than_ _usual_, he mentally added.

The boys made their way to the free court and started off just shooting baskets as Noah explained the game to Rex. Rex listened to the blond talk but soon found himself just enjoying the sound of Noah's voice. He especially liked it when the blond said his name, just as he was currently doing.

"Rex? Rex? REX!"

"What?" The EVO answered, coming out of his thoughts.

"You weren't listening to a thing I've said, were you?"

"Of course not," Rex replied confidently. "Why would I when I am naturally talented?"

Noah made a face. "Naturally talented, eh?"

"Yep," Rex replied sounding less confident.

"Alright then, take the ball away from me," Noah challenged.

"Too easy," Rex crouched down into a defensive position.

Noah dribbled the twice with one hand before switching it over to his other. Rex watched the ball change hands and waited. Moving his gaze from the ball to Noah's hips as they swayed from side to side Rex knew he wouldn't have to wait long. _Any moment now, _Rex thought and raised his eyes to look into his friend's. Noah stared back at him, his eyes bright and ready for action.

Like a shot Noah charged him. He ducked to his left trying to dodge the EVO but Rex was expecting that and knew that was feint to test Rex's reflexes. Rex responded by moving to his left when Noah shifted his body and went right switching the ball from his left hand to his right in an attempt to keep the ball away from Rex and into his shooting hand. It was the moment Rex was waiting for and snatched the ball out of Noah's possession before it reached the ground.

He saw Noah stop mid stride in surprise as Rex dribbled the ball and headed to the basket. Just before Rex shot the ball he turned to look at Noah a giant grin plastered on his face. Rex paused and took his shot which sailed over the board and landed in the grass.

Despite the lack of a score Rex beamed with pride. He had made his point.

"I thought you said you didn't know how to play," Noah accused, coming up to him.

"I don't, I just know how _you_ play." Rex said honestly and he wiped the sweat off his forehead with the back of his gloved hand.

"I'm not sure to be flattered or weirded out knowing that you know my game so well." Noah stated, looking away. "I can't be that predictable."

"Everyone is predictable in something. Like how Six never smiles unless he is really pleased about something, or how Bobo's hatred of bananas, unless they're fried. I just know you and know what you're like."

Noah seemed contemplative before he walked away; it sounded like "mall hings" but couldn't be sure. It didn't make sense to him so he forgot about it and blocked the sun from his eyes as he watched Noah go after the ball. He figured Noah was talking to himself anyway. A pink tinge now stained Noah's cheeks and neck, and sweat rolled down face and disappeared in the blond's olive green shirt.

Resting the basketball on his hip with one hand Noah lifted the end of his shirt with the other to wipe away the sweat that had gather there allowing Rex to see his bare skin and the five symmetrical bruises on his sides just above the teen's hips.

Rex felt his anger from two weeks ago return. Questions filled his head. They were similar to the ones that had popped into his mind the first time he saw them only now he knew better than to ask Noah about them. _What was Noah doing that made his body take so much punishment?_ He looked at Noah's hips again. To him they looked an awful lot like fingers and he couldn't help but once again wonder if Noah really was being bullied when Rex wasn't around. He wasn't sure why that was his first thought, he knew Noah could handle himself in most situations perhaps his worry had something to do with the fact that the boy wasn't an invincible EVO like himself.

Rex was almost tempted to pounce on Noah and strip the blond in order to see where else he had bruises because although Rex wasn't able to verify it he was pretty sure Noah had more bruises on his arms and chest. His concern for Noah earned him a basketball to his forehead.

"Ow, dammit Noah," Rex cursed, grabbing his injured head. He wasn't really hurt but the unexpected pressure still caused him to react as if it had.

"You awake now?" The blond teenager laughed, picking up the basketball.

"If a ball to the face is your way of waking up I have to tell you, you need a new alarm," he chided, laughing off the pain.

Noah didn't reply and tossed Rex the ball.

Rex was prepared to shoot it when his ear bud went off. He passed it back to Noah and motioned to him that he had a call from HQ. Noah nodded in understanding and placed the ball on his hip, so it wouldn't make any noise and alert Providence that Rex wasn't in HQ.

"What's the situation?" Rex asked.

"Rex, are you okay?" Cesar's voice called over the ear piece.

"Yes," Rex answered overly cautiously. He had learned long ago that no matter what Cesar said there was always a catch. "Why?"

"So you weren't in your room then?"

"No," Rex returned. "I'm with Noah."

"Mr. Nixon? Very good. May I assume that you're at the usual recreational location?"

"I guess," Rex asked, making a face at Cesar's odd phrasing. "_Why_?"

"It's nothing urgent, _mijo_" the familiar voice explained. "I just wanted you to know that there may be a slight change to your bedroom or more specifically your bed."

"My bed? What wrong with my bed?" Rex asked already dreading the answer.

"Only that your bed no longer exists. Well it does exist; matter can neither be created nor destroyed, but it longer holds the consistency of a bed."

"What have you done to my room?" Rex demanded, ignoring his brother's tangent.

"I didn't do anything; it was the acid that did most of the work."

"Cesar-" Rex growled. He could feel a headache forming.

"Don't worry everything is fine, once the smoke clears."

"Cesar..."

"What has he done now?" Noah asked Rex in his other ear.

Rex jumped and nearly tripped over his own feet. He had been listening attentively so his brother that he had failed to notice how close Noah had become and blinked in surprise. "I don't know, but we're going to find out," Rex promised and built his duct-fan copter. Without asking Rex grabbed Noah, wrapping his arm around his midsection and holding the boy close to him.

The basketball dropped out of Noah hands on fell onto the court were it bounced a few times before rolling into the grass forgotten on as the two friends lifted off the ground.

Rex had half expected Noah to fight him off and was surprised when Noah automatically wrapped his arms around Rex's and held on. It wasn't unusual position for them, when they were first getting to know each other Rex had shown off to Noah, trying to impress his new friend by giving the blond rides on his hover cycle and his copter, but never for so long and at the speed he was going. He quelled his surprise and concentrated on the flight home. If he went fast he could make it there in about fifteen minutes.

Not soon after they had left the park he felt Noah's grip on him tighten. Rex looked down and saw that the blond's eyes were screwed shut and half his face was buried in Rex's metallic shoulder. Sensing something was wrong Rex slowed and descended to the roof of an office building.

The moment they landed Noah pushed away from him and collapsed to his knees gulping deeply as he regained his breath.

"Noah?"

Noah looked up at him, his eyes wide with fear and disbelief. "Warn me…next time," he demanded once he had gathered enough strength to speak.

"I will," Rex nodded and ran a hand through his hair in shame. He should have known better. In his haste to get home he hadn't thought about how his flying would affect Noah. The wind alone could have suffocated him. Rex felt chills roll down his back at the thought.

"I know that you are in a hurry, but don't you ever do that again without my permission, you got that?" Noah was standing now, clearly shaken but ready to go on.

"Yes," Rex agreed with a quick nod. The raven haired EVO rebuilt his copter and reached out to grab Noah from behind.

This time Noah did fight him off. "Whoa, what the Hell do you think you're doing?" he asked, spinning out the EVOs hold.

Rex's nanites retracted leaving a pile of metal at his feet. "I thought if you were underneath me you would be able to breathe better," he reasoned. "Besides I was only going to get us off the roof."

"How about we take the elevator and then you can drive us to HQ?" Noah supplied, his face going red again.

"Or we could do that too," Rex said, blushing in embarrassment.

He followed Noah over to the roof door and watched as he friend tried to door knob. Predictably it was locked. "Stand back," Rex instructed and started to build his sword.

"Hold up," Noah countered and crouched down in front of the door. "As fun as it would be to see you cut through the door with your big freaking sword, you don't need to break it down for us to get inside. See, here?" He asked, pointing to a small black box stuck on the brick wall just level with the door handle. "It's an ID card scanner. You place the card in front of it and if you're authorized the door will unlock." Noah explained and mimed the motion using his hand as a card.

"Great, all we need now is an authorized card," Rex replied sarcastically.

Noah rolled his eyes. "You're missing the point. It reads the card electronically which means…"

"It will respond to my nanites and I can tell it to open for us." Rex finished, catching onto Noah's thoughts.

"It's worth a shot." Noah smiled brightly at him and Rex felt his pride swell as he strode to the door.

Rex placed his palm over the card reader and exhaled deeply. "Here goes nothing." Willing his nanites into the black box he heard the telltale click of a door being unlocked.

"Ladies first," Rex said playfully, grinning widely.

"Oh, ha ha very funny Rex," Noah replied sarcastically as he went in.

* * *

><p>It was after dark when they made it back to HQ. Rex didn't disengage his hover bike as he sped down the long white halls of Providence HQ towards his room.<p>

To get there they had to pass through the massive atrium. Rex weaved through the sea of white clad Providence Agents when an angry voice called out to him.

"Where are my caramels?" Stevens called racing after the teens.

"Oh right," Rex said and pulled a small brown paper bag out of his pocket and handed it to Noah.

"Rex, what-?"

"Toss'em," Rex instructed and shifted in his seat so he could see Agent Stevens clearer. "Now."

He looked back as Noah threw the bag into the air Stevens scrambled to catch the paper bag of sweets before they hit the ground. He laughed at the sight until he felt Noah tugging on his jacket. He looked at the blond's fear stricken face and then at his hand as he pointed forwards. Rex turned back around on his bike and went cold. While he had watched Stevens run for his sweets a large transportation truck had made its way into the atrium and was headed straight for them. The slow moving vehicle took up too much space for Rex to swerve around it and Rex was going too fast to turn around.

Using all of his willpower he ordered of his nanites to slow down, but he knew that there was no way to avoid getting hit and braced himself as they slammed into the truck. Rex's machine flipped over the hood of the truck before breaking apart, sending the boys flying into the air.

Rex could see Noah as if he were a movie put on slow speed. The blond's body twisted in the air as he tried to gain his bearings, but was unsure how to. Acting quickly, Rex created his whip arm and wrapped it around Noah's midsection and pulled the teen towards him before building his robotic legs. Without thinking Rex braced himself for Noah's weight and caught Noah easily as the whip retracted. Rex realized that Noah was in his arms and found that he wasn't repelled by the sensation of holding a man in a decidedly intimate embrace.

"Um, good catch," the blond said, his voice sounding uncommonly deep as he squirmed in Rex's grip.

"Thanks," he answered. Suddenly feeling highly self-conscious Rex realized that he still had Noah in his arms; gingerly he set him down.

Almost immediately Rex heard sirens signaling the arrival of the medics. Rex panicked and quickly weighed his options. If he ran now he could still make it to his room. He wanted to jet to his room, but he also didn't want to leave the crash site in case he was needed. The debate only lasted a few seconds as his sense of responsibility told him that he was needed here most, besides whatever damage Cesar had made in his room was done. There was nothing he could do but get upset over his room and he could do that later.

Before he was aware of it Rex was jogging over to the driver and forcing the cab door open. "You okay?" He asked, looking over the driver. The man turned his head at Rex's voice and nodded his head. "I'm fine," he insisted and sniffed.

The Agent inside seemed shaken by the sudden impact and he had a small bump on his forehead, but otherwise he seemed unhurt. Lucky, this guy had been wearing his seatbelt.

"Whoa, take it easy. I think you're in shock. Don't move until the medic clears you." Rex instructed.

"Yeah, sure," the driver nodded slowly and rested his forehead on the top of the steering wheel

"Good," Rex said stepping away. Just then a medic approached them.

"How's the driver?" he asked.

"Okay, just a bit shaken up and he's taken a knock to the head," Rex replied, pointing to his own.

"Good, now out of the way so I can take a look at him."

Rex nodded and jumped down. Motioning to Noah to follow him, Rex headed to the main corridor that connected the atrium to the Living Quarters.

"Are you sure that we should leave?" Noah questioned.

"No, but there's no fire or a crazed EVO running around I don't know what else I could do.

"What about the driver?"

"The guy said he was fine and he is being looked at by the Meds. And I want to save what I can of my room," Rex explained with a shrug.

When he didn't hear Noah's reply Rex turned to see that Noah stopped walking and was standing in the empty corridor with his arms crossed over his ribs. "You could have seriously hurt someone back there and all you're worried about is your stuff?"

"Yes, no, not when you put it like that," he sighed and ran a hand through in hair making sure he avoided his goggles.

Rex was about to reply when there was a loud click and an ear piercing screech of metal on metal as two wall panels began to separate to reveal the largest screen Rex had ever seen. The screen clicked on to reveal an unhappy White Knight staring down on them floor. "Did you honestly think you could just drive into a truck and hoped I wouldn't hear about?" he demanded, staring down at Rex.

"Hope is a bit of an overstatement." Rex amended with a side grin.

"Why am I not surprised?" The Head of Providence smirked and grabbed something off screen.

To his credit Rex had enough sense to look apologetic. Before he could think of anything to say Rex heard Noah coming to his defense. "It wasn't entirely his fault."

"Yes, thank you I am fully aware of what goes on in my own backyard," White agreed, his smirk falling into a neutral smile.

Noah fell silent and looked away from the screen. Rex placed his hand on Noah's shoulder in gratitude, he felt Noah stiffen and tilt his head in response. "That's enough Noe," he cautioned. "It's time for you to go home." He was familiar with Knight's limited facial expressions to know that the big man wasn't happy and was willing to dole out punishment to anyone who challenged him.

Noah spun out of Rex's reach. "What are you talking about I just got here? Besides you're going to need someone to help you clean up," he defended angrily.

Rex found himself nodding in agreement though he wasn't entirely sure why. He looked up to the screen to see what his boss had to say.

White Knight glared at the blond for a moment. His frown deepened, before he said "Well, what are you waiting for? Get to work."

Despite himself Rex smiled. "Yes, sir!" he said happily.

"Oh and Rex, I'll be keeping an eye on you."

"Yes, sir," Rex replied, not as happily.

The screen went blank and the panel started shifting back into place. Rex tuned out the awful sound and turned his attention to the atrium and surveyed the damage. Orange and black metal was scattered around the truck and besides the massive dent in the front end of the truck.

He stood in front of Noah with his palms on his hips. "I guess we should get started with the cleanup."

Noah nodded and crossed his arms. "So, where do they keep the brooms around here?"

"Oh that's easy, they're um," Rex paused. "I don't know actually."

"Of course not," Noah smirked already waving down an agent.

* * *

><p>"Thanks for sticking around Noe," Rex said, tossing a robotic armful of debris into a storage bin he was using as a trash can.<p>

"It's no big deal," Noah replied, sweeping up his much smaller pile of glass and wood. "Besides I think your deal with Stevens is over," Noah reasoned. "This may be the only time we have to hang for a while."

Rex emptied his hands and looked over at Noah. The blond had his back to him as he swept, but Rex could hear the sincerity in his friend's voice. "Well, I was never one to skip on manners."

He saw Noah's head snap up and heard him snort at his words.

"Since when?" Noah challenged, arching an eyebrow in disbelief.

"Hey I'm always on my best behavior," Rex said awkwardly. "Well, most of the time."

"If you say so," Noah muttered under his breath. Rex heard him and began laughing feeling better as the blond joined in.

"Are you guys still here?" An amused voice said above them. Rex looked up and saw Bobo perched ontop of the container.

"Is that an offer to help?" Noah asked waving his dust mop in front of the chimp.

"You ought to get your hearing checked Blondie," Bobo whacked the mop away with a causal wave on his hand. It was knocked out of Noah's hands and landed on the tiled floor near Rex.

"Well, why else would you be here?" Rex countered, picking up the mop.

"I heard there was a shipment of fruit coming in tonight," Bobo explained, his mouth breaking into a grin.

"You're not planning on raiding the bananas again?"

Bobo blinked looking scandalized by Rex's accusation. "Of course not, you know how much I hate those things."

"Yeah, but they have their uses." Rex could see that Noah was getting lost in the conversation and filled him in. "He likes to stuff them into exhaust pipes and gym lockers."

Bobo chuckled, amused by his own prank.

He grinned as Noah chuckled at the mental image. "That seems like a waste."

"Hey, I'll stop doing it when they stop buying them," Bobo reasoned. "You think the pale boss man would have learned by now."

"You would," Noah agreed with a nod. Rex thought he was mocking Bobo rather than agreeing with him. He would have come to monkey's defense had he not felt the same way.

* * *

><p>Rex lifted the heavy lid of the storage bin containing the crash debris and with Noah instructing him, gently placed it on top of the container. "And done," Rex announced in a satisifed sigh. "Now can I go to my room?" Rex asked sarcastically.<p>

Noah looked around the atrium as if inspecting their work. Everyone had gone for the day and except for the skeleton crew that worked nights he and Noah were the only ones around. Bobo had left an hour ago, making his way to the cargo bay on the other side of Headquarters. "Everything seems to be in order. You are free to go Mr. Salazar."

"Finally," Rex cheered and raced to down the corridor, instinctively knowing Noah was right behind him.

He reached the hallway that led to the Living Quarters and knew that once he turned right he would be home. Rounding the corner he could see his room and the sight made him screech to a hault. From ceiling to floor, the door was covered in red caution tape warning all passerbys to stay away.

He heard footfalls behind him and knew that Noah had caught up. "Whoa. Is that for real?"

"Not for long," Rex promised and created his sword. With relative ease he cut down the red caution tape and wrenched open the door. He was met with was damp darkness and a strong smell of bleach that burned in his nose. He was about to reach for the light switch when Rex had been pulled out of the room and the door was slammed shut.

Rex staggered into the corridor wall. His brother stood before him; his hands raking over Rex's body as if checking for something.

"What are you doing? Get off me," Rex demanded, pushing Cesar's hands away.

Showing more agility than normal Cesar grabbed Rex's wrist and examined it. "Stop," he instructed. Rex froze; something in his brother's voice told him that this wasn't the time to second guess him. "No sudden movements," Cesar pinched the top of the glove at the middle finger and in one motion ripped off Rex's glove and threw it to the ground where is sizzled out of existence.

"What was that?" Rex asked more confidently than he felt. His glove was gone and he had barely gone into his room. What would have happened if Cesar hadn't stopped me from going in? Would I have lost my hand? He thought and had to suppress a shudder.

"An experiment," Cesar answered cryptically.

"Isn't it always?" he growled in frustration. His anger at his brother was starting to replace his anxiety over being dissolved and now he wanted answers. "How long will it take to fix it?"

"No more than a few weeks; a month tops."

"A month? Where do you expect me to sleep?"

"I've set up a place for the both of you in my lab. You are staying the night, right?"

The Salazar brothers turned their attention to Noah. Rex could see the blond squirm under their gaze. He dug his hands in his pockets and staring between the two. Eventually his eyes landed on Cesar and Rex felt a twinge of unexplained anger. "I could," he replied.

"Excellent," Cesar smiled, looking pleased. "This way."

He released Rex and turned on his heel. Noah followed. Rex pulled on his jacket and jogged after them. The journey to his brother's lab wasn't long but it allowed Rex to catch up to Noah.

"Are you sure you can stay?" he asked, trying not to sound too hopeful.

Noah gave him a look. "Yeah, why not? It's not like I have school tomorrow."

"And no pressing Calculus tests to study for?"

"Nope; well, yeah, but it can wait. All weekend really."

"Cool," Rex beamed at his friend. It would be nice to have Noah with him; he wouldn't have to deal with his eccentric brother alone. And perhaps Rex could figure out what how Noah was getting those bruises.

* * *

><p><strong>To be continued!<strong>


	3. Three

**Detour**

**Three**

"I really hope you haven't just set up cots next to some malfunctioning death ray," Rex warned Caesar as they neared the lab.

The older Salazar's eyebrows went up in confusion at his brother's words. "What an odd thing to say, Rex," Caesar replied frowning at his brother.

"Is it?" Rex asked sarcastically. He knew that Caesar slept on a cot in his lab, when he slept at all. Rex wouldn't put it passed his older brother to add two more cots and not think it weird for two growing teens to stay overnight in a lab where they could be exposed to who knows what as they slept.

"Yes, you know I keep the death ray off site."

Rex stopped in front of the lab door to stare incredulously at the taller man. "You mean you actually have a death ray?"

"No, it was a joke," Caesar chuckled deeply in the back of his throat and grinned so wide his cheeks hid his eyes. "I was only kidding. You're easier to tease then I was told,_ mijo_."

"And just who told you that?"

"I forget now," Caesar shrugged.

"How convenient," Rex groaned and pushed passed his brother into the lab.

No matter how many times Rex came here he was overwhelmed with wonder and a nagging sense of danger. It was nothing like the labs he was used to being in. Like the white sterile walls of Holiday's lab with monitors and heavy expensive looking equipment that any one would expect in a scientist's lab. Not at all like the chaos that he found in Caesar's. It was more like Rex imagined a mad inventor's workshop would look like then a scientist's lab. He thought it was most likely due to the fact that there was always something new about Caesar's lab and more than once Rex had been attacked by whatever that new addition was. Caesar was constantly working on some new experiment. Even the structure of the lab changed; one day it would be full of glass and steel tubes bubbling with liquids that Rex couldn't even begin to identify, the next in mysterious wooden boxes. Rex learned long ago not to ask Caesar about what he was working on because it usually ended up one of two ways; he would shook head and refuse to answer or he would stare at you with unrestrained excitement and ramble on about the new project using words so convoluted that Rex was pretty sure Caesar had made them up as his went along; ignoring any sense of alarm as he excitedly demonstrated what he was working on.

Noah and Caesar followed Rex in, Caesar side stepped him so he could lead them thru the lab.

"So, where are we sleeping?" Noah asked curiously as he looked around.

"Right this way," Caesar promised and weaved through the lab with ease.

Rex had to jog in order to keep up, making sure not to touch anything in the lab besides his feet on the floor. Who knows what would happen if he accidentally brushed against something that activated his nanites. His brother had proven time and again that he could mess with Rex's biometrics with little effort and not always with positive results. Rex looked behind him and saw that Noah seemed to have come to a similar conclusion and was having some trouble navigating his way thru the lab

"Hold up, Rex!" Noah pleaded, reaching out to his best friend.

Rex paused and waited. He held out an ungloved hand and Noah took it when the blond caught up. There no way he was going to lose Noah in his brother's crazy lab, not as long as he was around. Feeling confident Rex turned back around and then froze. Caesar had continued on while Rex had waited for Noah and now the eccentric scientist was nowhere to be seen.

"Mijo?" Rex called out, but received no response.

"He's fast when he wants to be," Noah commented breathlessly. "I never knew how big is this place was."

"It seems endless," Rex agreed with a nod.

"I assure you it does end," Caesar said, popping out of nowhere, "though you can get lost if you're not careful. That's why I painted arrows on the floors." Caesar said, pointing down.

Rex and Noah both looked down and saw that Caesar had indeed painted the floor with arrows the only problem was the arrows tended to be overlapped one another and pointed in many different directions.

"That's handy," Noah replied sarcastically as he studied the floor.

"Thanks," Caesar said with a prideful grin. He looked down at their entwined hands and Rex saw his brother's smile fade. "Keep up, we're almost there," he said before he spun on his heel and was gone.

Taken aback by his brother's sudden mood swing, Rex stood there staring after him. He snapped out of his reverie when Noah squeezed his hand. "Let's go," the blond teen encouraged and nodded after Caesar.

After another turn around a tower of what appeared to be glass phials they found Caesar standing in front of a small door.

"Here you are," Caesar said, gesturing to the door.

"You want us in the closet?"

"It's not a closet. Well, not anymore. It's my bedroom, though I rarely use it."

"You have a bedroom?" Noah asked sounding as shocked as Rex felt, and maybe a bit angry?

Rex shook his head of the thought and looked inside. It had a similar layout to his room through it was furnished a lot less sparsely than Rex's. There were two standard issues twin beds with matching dresser drawers. Off the left hand side was a small bathroom with a toilet and shower stall. Everything looked clean and unused. Something caught his eye and he walked over to the wall. "Is that... Is that a seventy-two inch screen TV with high definition?" Rex asked softly as if he were afraid he might be wrong.

"Yeah, I've been meaning to get rid of that," Caesar answered with a frown.

"Don't you dare!" Rex rounded on his brother. He caught Noah's amused smirk as the blond put his fist to his mouth and chuckled behind it. Rex supposed he did look a bit too eager considering the reason why he was here in the first place. Rex schooled his features into a neutral expression and looked at the big screen television with disinterest. "I mean I suppose this will do."

"Good, because it's going to take two months to clear your room," Caesar amended, studying an arrow on the floor.

"What!" Rex rounded on his brother.

"Don't worry it's just a precaution. You'll most likely be back in a month, as I said."

"It better be," Rex warned and flopped onto one of the beds.

00000

"I guess we should head to the Mess hall and get something to eat before it gets too late," Noah suggested, staring at the TV as it aired an ad for the local taco truck.

"You sure you wanna subject yourself to Mess food?" Rex questioned, looking away from the tempting cheesy nachos on the screen. "Why do you think a break out all the time?" he asked with a smirk.

"Good point," Noah agreed. "So what are we gonna do about food?"

Rex shrugged his shoulders. "Wish really hard?"

Noah laughed into his hand. "You'd have thought Caesar would have shown us where his kitchenette was," Noah commented looking around the room.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you don't usually see him in the Mess Hall during meals, do you?" Noah pointed out. "So he has to have a place to eat, right? I mean he's not a machine, he has to eat."

"Uh, you know, you're right? I've never thought about that. I guess it's never occurred to me to think about Caesar's eating habits. Do you think he is getting enough fiber in his diet?" Rex said mockingly.

"Fine, forget I said anything." Noah said, sticking out his tongue childishly.

Rex barked out in laughter and watched as Noah pulled out his phone and dialed a number. Their eyes meet briefly as Noah held the device up to his ear but the blond quickly looked away when the phone dialed out.

"Who are you calling?" Rex demanded.

Noah held up a hand to silence the EVO. Rex put the TV on mute and shifted himself on his bed until he was practically leaning over Noah's. Pressing his ear close to Noah's phone that the blond had to placed his hand over Rex's face and push him away playfully; a bit too playfully actually as Rex tumbled head over heels out of bed.

Noah covered his mouth as he laughed silently.

"Haha, very funny, move over Noe."

Noah did as Rex asked and made room for the EVO as he got off the floor and took a sit next to him.

Rex looked at his blond friend, staring intently into the teen's light green eyes, his curiosity reaching its peek as he listened hard for the voice on the other side of Noah's phone.

Noah broke the eye contact, his gaze going inward as the line picked up. "Hey, Hot Rod. How's it running?" Noah asked, his face stretching into a wide grin.

Rex blinked as Noah giggled at the response. It was the first time he had ever heard Noah giggle. It was a sound that he wanted to hear more of. Rex hovered near Noah trying to listen in. _Who the Hell was Hot Rod and how does Noah know him?_ Rex wondered. He supposed Noah could be on the phone with a girl but the way the blond was acting Rex highly doubted it. There was no way Noah would be acting as…well as girly as he was right now if that were the case. _No matter how feminist a girl is she would never call herself 'Hot Rod,'_ Rex snorted at the thought and ignored the dirty look Noah shot him.

It was then that a light bulb sparked on in Rex's head; could it be that this Hot Rod person was the one hurting Noah? Rex's dislike of the disembodied voice over the phone grew into hatred at the thought. He hadn't realized how tense he was until he felt a muscle spasm in his back and he grunted as he tried stretching it out. He caught Noah frowning at him and gave him an awkward side grin in apology.

Noah nodded his acceptance and turned away from him again. "So what sounds good tonight?" the blond asked thoughtfully. "I guess pizza would be the easiest thing to get. Rex, you okay with pizza?" Noah didn't wait for Rex's response as his gaze went inward as he listened thru his phone.

Rex didn't know why he didn't like the way Noah had referred to him as a friend; he just did. Maybe it was the dismissive way Noah had said it, as if Rex was just some guy Noah had met in passing once and had not his best friend. It was his ego that was hurt and tried to shrug it off. Why should he be upset if Noah didn't call him the "coolest guy you'd ever met" when he was talking about him? Rex frowned and looked back to the TV. There was a collegiate basketball match on and although Rex didn't recognize the two schools he focused all his attention on how the players angled their bodies as they set up their shots and not on Noah's voice as it rumbled in laughter.

He was nearing the end of his patience when he heard Noah tell _Hot Rod_ that he would be looking forward to seeing him. "It's been too long, man. It will be good to hang out with you again."

Rex scooted back on Noah's bed until he hit the wall. The movement forced Noah to lean forward as the bed dipped down. The blond automatically braced himself from falling over by putting a hand on Rex's thigh. Rex froze at the sudden touch.

Noah looked away from the phone and the two friends exchanged looks and Noah quickly moved his hand away from Rex's leg.

"Sorry," Noah mumbled, pulling the phone away from his mouth.

Rex just shrugged and shifted into a more comfortable position. "It's cool," he replied and tried not to focus on the heat radiating off of where Noah had touched him.

Noah gave him a smile and returned to his phone call. "Okay, I think we'll be fine with the usual order," Noah laughed and wrapped an arm around his midriff. "Don't forget to get something for yourself. It's on me. Hey, don't forget that I'm a high school student on a weekly allowance; don't go overboard or fancy with the order, okay? Good, I will see you soon."

Noah hung up and mirrored Rex's motion until he too had his back pressed against the wall.

"So, what's the verdict?" Rex asked, watching Noah kick off his shoes.

"Rod's gonna order us a few pizzas and we're going to meet up with him."

"Oh," Rex said and shifted again making sure to give Noah as much space as possible. "Cool."

If Noah noticed Rex's odd behavior he kept it to himself.

"How's the game?"

"Uh?"

Noah smirked and gestured to the TV.

"Oh, it's fine," Rex replied distactedly.

"You wanna watch something else?" Noah asked, reaching forward for the remote.

"No, no this is fine."

Noah nodded and leaned back against in the wall.

The two friends stayed that way idlly watching the basketball game on mute. Every once and a while Noah would grunt or

"So when do you wanna head out?" Rex asked feeling his stomach knot up, though he wasn't sure if it was from hunger or from his curiousity of meeting Rod.

Noah looked up in thought. "Now would be good." He decided and inched his way to the edge of his bed. "And I was just getting comfortable too," he added.

The blond's flippant remark made Rex swell with pride and a sense that he was winning in the friendship battle he had going between himself and the unknown Hot Rod.

"You wanna cancel and just chill here?" He asked trying to keep the eagerness out of his voice.

"Please and have to listen to your stomach all night? I don't think so. Plus it would be-"

"Nice to see Hot Rod again?" Rex said, this time he was unable to keep the bitterness out of his voice.

Noah turned back to stare at him, his eyes wide in disbelief. "Oh my god, Rex," he said before breaking out into a grin.

"What?"

"You're jealous!" Noah stated with a laugh.

"Nu-no I'm not," the teen EVO insisted.

Noah braced himself on the edge of the bed as he leaned his head back and laughed loudly. "You are. I don't believe it! What's the matter Rex I am not allowed to have other friends in Providence?"

"No, that's not it."

"Oh, do please enlighten me. I would love to hear what's gotten you all hot and bothered," Noah teased.

"I just, it's just. I'm not jealous," Rex finished, tripping over his words.

This caused Noah to laugh even harder.

"I'm so glad that I amuse you," Rex repiled, crossing his arms over his abs.

"Oh, more than you know," Noah promised, wiping away a tear that had formed in his eye.

He lightly patted Rex's lower leg. "Don't worry Rex, no matter how my friends I make here you will always be my favorite."

"Haha," Rex repiled and shook off Noah's hand. The blond chuckled again and moved to put his shoes back on.

When he was done he stood up and placed his hands on his hips. "All right then, time to eat." He declared and smack the toe of Rex's boot with the bottom of his fist.

"Yay," Rex replied and shuffled off the bed.

Noah smiled and headed to the door, knowing that Rex would follow him.


	4. Four

**Detour Four**

"So how are we going to doing this?" Rex asked crossing his arms as he regarded the cluttered lab.

Noah looked to the left as he thought. "We fly, of course," he said opening his arms to Rex.

Rex chuckled. "Are you sure?"

"What other choices do we have?" Noah asked, shrugging with more emphasis than was necessary.

"Well aren't you just full of ideas today?"

"I have my days."

"Though this really should have been your first thought, that way we would have just gotten pizza on our own."

Noah laughed. "You know you just sound even more jealous when you say things like that, right?"

Rex chose to ignore Noah's comment as he signaled the blond to him. "Just come here," Rex instructed.

Noah stepped forward and loosely put his arms around Rex's neck, and for the third time that day Rex wrapped his arms around Noah's waist, and built his copter and hovered a few inches above the ground.

"You'll let me know if you're uncomfortable," Rex half asked, half ordered as they flew higher above the lab. He felt Noah tighten his grip on him before the blond answered.

"Okay."

"I mean it," Rex said in his best imitation of Agent Six.

"I said okay," Noah snorted and loosen his grip on Rex's neck in annoyance.

Once in the air Rex had a better view of the lab and he was easily able to spot the exit. Now that he knew where he was going he would be able to navigate his way to his new living quarters.

"Wow, this place is a mess. I don't know how Caesar can work in here." Noah commented as he too looked around the room.

Unconsciously Rex tightened his arms around Noah's waist as he hovered down to the exit. He grimaced as Noah hissed in pain at the touch and Rex quickly landed and deconstructed his Boogie Pack.

"Sorry." Rex apologized knowing that he must have put pressure on Noah's bruised side.

"S'okay," Noah affirmed with a dismissive wave.

Rex gave him a small smile and then turned away from his friend and bit his lip in self-hatred. He knew that Noah was injured. I probably just made his bruises worse by holding him like that; he mentally berated himself as he opened the lab door. "Age before beauty," he said standing aside to let Noah go thru first.

"Ha-ha, very funny," Noah replied sarcastically as he passed the EVO.

They followed the now familiar path to the Mess Hall Like most of Providence the hall was a large white room with a high vaulted ceiling. It needed to be big in order to house dozens of hungry Providence Agents at a time. Rex felt his apprehension build as they reached the Mess Hall. He whipped his head back and forth as he scanned the hall for Noah's friend. He wanted to get a good look at Hot Rod to see if he was perhaps the one that had been hurting his dearest friend. There were few people currently in the hall most of them were kitchen staff as there hurried to clean the rows and rows of neat white lunch tables.

"There's Rodney," Noah said with a grin and gestured to one of the few occupied tables.

A Providence agent stood up and waved them over.

Rex narrowed his eyes as he followed Noah, sizing up the agent the entire way. What Rex saw only made him more suspicious of the guy. By anyone's standards Rodney had earned his nickname. He was hot. He was black with a shaved head, slender and muscular with piercing blue eyes that unnerved Rex with their intensity. It was as though Rodney was able to read his thoughts when their gaze fell on him.

"Hey Nixon," Rodney greeted the blond warmly. He wrapped an arm around Noah's shoulders and Rex pocketed his hands. He clenched them in private rage as Noah transformed the half hug into a full one by turning and embracing the Agent with a hearty pat on the back.

"Hi Rod, how's your mom?" Noah asked sincerely.

"Good, good," Rodney replied releasing Noah. "And yours? How's Marie doing?"

"Not bad, you know the same old same old."

"Still on the road?"

"Yep," Noah said looking slightly uncomfortable.

"What's in the box-es?" Rex cut in, awkwardly pointing to the three pizza boxes resting on the table in the hopes of steering the conversation away from Noah's personal life.

There was a moment of silence as the two friends stared at the EVO.

"Dinner," Rodney said lifting the lids open. "I wasn't sure what you guys would be in the mood for so I just got one cheese and one meat lovers." Rodney said grinning widely at Rex.

Despite the reservations he had for the agent Rex returned the smile.

"This looks great," Noah said helping himself to a slice of the cheese. "How much do I owe you?"

Rodney shook his head. "Nothing, this one is on me, Noah."

"You sure?"

"Yes."

"Thanks Rodney."

Rex ignored the exchange as he sat down at the head of the table and pulled the meaty pizza towards him.

Noah nudged Rex in the shoulder. "Yeah, thanks Rodney," Rex agreed before he stuffed the pizza slice into his mouth.

"You're welcome, sir," Rodney replied.

Rex did look up at that. "Sir?"

Rodney had the sense to appear embarrassed. "Um, was that not right?" he asked, rubbing his neck nervously. "I mean you are…you."

Rex chuckled at the formality. "No need to call me sir. You make it sound like you're my servant or something. Rex is just fine."

Rodney nodded. "Okay, then Rex it is," the dark skinned teen said and sitting down.

"So, Rodney, what do you do?"

"You probably couldn't tell it by looking at him, but Rodney is one of the guys who helped develop the software that makes the ear pods work in harsh conditions." Noah answered, taking his seat opposite Rodney.

"Like the desert and stuff?" Rex asked, picking up a slice of pepperoni that had fallen his pizza and stuffing it into his mouth.

"Yes, sir- I mean Rex," Rodney nodded again.

"Cool, thanks man. Sometimes a mission lives or dies on whether or not I can contact HQ. It's not like the movies where you can zoom in on a picture and clear it up or where phone calls never lose their signal." Rex said with a laugh.

"You're welcome," Rodney said and gave Rex a cheerful smile.

"See, I told you he was easy to get along with," Noah pointed out before he started on his own slice of cheese pizza.

Rex looked away from the trail of cheese growing from Noah's mouth as he pulled the pizza away from him. "What?"

"Smooth Nixon," Rodney said sarcastically. To Rex he said, "I'll admit I was a bit nervous meeting you." Rodney picked at his pizza and avoided eye contact.

"Why?"

"Well I've been a big fan of yours for like ever. I mean you were the reason I joined Providence in the first place."

"I was?"

Rodney nodded.

"Cool," Rex repeated and reached for another slice. He wasn't sure if it was because he was finally eating something but Rex felt his earlier dislike towards Hot Rod dissipate as he talked to the guy. Rodney was too shy and awkward to even think about hurting Noah let alone actually cause the blond harm. So Rex put all thoughts of the mystery and focused instead on enjoying the food and the company that came with it.

00000

When they got back to the room Rex flopped onto his bed groaning as he turned over onto his back. "I'm stuffed!" he exclaimed with a sigh.

"Well, I should hope so since you ate a whole pizza by yourself," Noah scolded mockingly.

"Hey, I was hungry. What did you expect me to do?" he asked closing his eyes.

Noah chuckled. "In that case I guess I should be grateful that you didn't eat the box."

"I was tempted to," Rex joked and smiled as Noah laughed.

"So," Noah started causally, "what's the verdict?" he asked, sitting on the edge of his bed.

"What verdict?"

"Are you still jealous?"

"No," Rex defended as he turned onto his side, "because I wasn't jealous in the first place."

"If you say so," Noah chuckled. Rex heard the ruffle of cloth over cloth and guessed that Noah had removed his jacket.

"I do say so," Rex mumbled and yawned. He lazily pulled off his red biker jacket and tossed it to the ground before toeing off his boots and kicking them off the bed. He turned onto his back and unzipped his pants. Arching his back Rex lifted his hips into the air as he maneuvered his pants over his thighs and down his legs before kicking those onto the ground to join his boots.

"That's better," he sighed as he settled back onto the bed in nothing but his tee shirt and boxer shorts. Rex shifted onto his side once again and tucked his hands under his pillow. "Goodnight, Noe."

"Night," Noah replied, his voice sounding high and tense as he shifted on his bed.

Rex noticed how strained Noah's voice sounded and tried to fight off his sleepiness to ask him what was wrong, but he was only able to mimic the way Noah had sounded as sleep claimed him for the night.

"Night."

00000

Rex started at the sound of the air compressing as the bedroom door slid open. Rex quickly sat up, his smack hands half formed from habit of having to constantly defend himself. "Who's there?" he demanded his voice harsh with sleep.

"Relax Rex, it's just me," Noah whispered.

"Noe?" Rex grunted groggily, feeling his nerves calm at the familiar voice. "What are you-"

"Bathroom," Noah whispered into the dark. "I'll be back. Go back to sleep Rex."

"Oh, okay," he said and fell back to sleep. It as he blindly searched for his phone. He found it next to his pillow and pulled it towards him. The soft glow of the screen stung his eyes for a moment and Rex had to blink several times before his eyes adjusted enough to read the time. It was just after midnight. Awesome, he thought dryly exhaling thru his nose.

There was a slight change in light behind his eyelids as the door slid open. He kept his eyes shut until the door closed, plunging the room in darkness once again.

00000

Rex woke sometime after nine o'clock and stumbled into the bathroom to start his morning routine. It wasn't until he noticed that none of the toiletries in the medicine cabinet were his that he remembered that he was not in his room. Anger shocked through him as his memory filled in the gaps. The call from Caesar, the crash and cleanup, the loss of a glove to an unknown acid, and the new arrangements all played in his mind like a picture book.

"Oh, great, it wasn't a nightmare," he sighed and closed the cabinet door. He stared at his reflection.

Instead there were two small travel bags of clear plastic sitting on the sink counter; inside where the basics; toothbrush and paste, floss and a bar of cheap soap. Rex unzipped one of the bags and took out what he needed.

He was drying off his face that he realized that the bathroom was adjoined to the bedroom and that there would be no reason for Noah to leave the room if he needed to use it. If there was a toilet inside the room, why did I hear Noah leaving? Where was he going in the middle of the night?

"Noe!" Rex spun on his heel and ran back into the bedroom. "Noah, are you here?" There was no response. Was he with Rodney? The thought flash thru his mind before he dismissed it. Rodney had told him last night that he would be off duty training today. And Rex quickly gathered his things and got dressed. He dug into his jacket for his phone and checked to see if there were any messages from his blond friend. Nothing. Rex tried to keep the growing panic from growing as he called up Noah's number and dialed out. It rang twice before going to voicemail. Rex growled in frustration and ended the call. Stuffing the cell in his pants pocket Rex headed to the door the lead to the lab.

Rex activated the door his jaw dropping in shock as he stepped out. Caesar's lab was gone. It was just an empty room now. His head turned at the sound of a horn. He managed to jump out of the way as a forklift zoomed passed him. He was about to curse out the driver when he saw that there was no driver at the wheel. "Sorry about that_ mijo_." Caesar apologized, materializing out of nowhere. "I'm still working out some bugs," he explained lifting up his arms slightly. In his hands he held the biggest remote controller that Rex had ever seen. It was black and bulky and reminded Rex of the Providence training manual he had seen laying around HQ.

"Work faster," Rex suggested, watching his brother in silent fascination as Caesar pulled levers and pushed buttons as he navigated his robots.

"Doing some spring cleaning?" He asked watching the forklift turn a corner and disappear for sight.

"I could tell that you weren't happy with the way the lab was organized so I decided to make things easier for you."

"Oh, wow thank you," Rex said showing his appreciation.

"You are very welcome," Caesar replied, sounding oddly formal.

Rex ignored his brother's stilted reply; he had other things to worry about than his brother's eccentricities. "Have you seen Noah?"

"Nope. You look hungry. Follow me."

Rex's stomach spoke for him with a loud gurgle and he sighed unsure what to do.

"Noah might be in the kitchen," Caesar added at his brother's hesitation.

"Lead the way."

000000

"Ah, Noah mentioned last night that you might have a kitchen. I didn't think you actually had one though," Rex looking around small kitchenette. It was rather small and most of the place was covered with printouts with complex math equations written over them in Caesar's spidery script.

"He did?" Caesar asked, leaning against the doorframe. "That was kind of him," he added looking thoughtful as he tinkered with his remote controller. "He is pretty good at the small things. You should find everything that you need here. If you need me, you know where to look." Caesar said slowly backing into the hallway.

"Um, sure," Rex said and then paused in pulling open shelves to look at the spot his brother had been. Something clicked inside him at Caesar's words. They reminded him of what Noah had said yesterday on the basketball court. What has sounded like "mall tings" to him had actually been "small things;" it seemed obvious now, but it made Rex wonder how odd it was that Caesar would quote Noah especially while he was referring to the blond. Rex squirreled the thought away and continued rummaging in the cupboards for something to eat.

"I can't believe this place has food in it." Rex mused out loud, pulling a white ceramic bowl down from its shelf.

"Why do you say that?" Noah asked coming into the kitchenette.

"Jesus Christ Noah, what happened to your face?" Rex stammered and nearly dropped his bowl. There was no denying that the blond had been roughed up, his lower lip was spilt open and swollen and he was sporting a marvelous black eye. Noah unexpected appearance made Rex juggle the bowl and catching the spoon just before it hit the floor.

"Morning to you too, Rex," Noah greeted him with a sleepy grin.

Rex tried not to openly gawk at him as he had since he first noticed the bruises; it wasn't easy.

"M-morning," he replied dumbly as Noah moved passed him to the sink.

"Did you sleep well?" Noah asked picking up a glass and filling it with tap water.

Rex slammed the ceramic bowl on the counter. Was Noah really expecting him to ignore the black eye and split lip? _That's fine I have other questions for him not to answer. _"Where have you been? You weren't in the room when I woke up." He asked looking into his friend's face.

Noah shrugged and didn't meet his gaze.

"Did you know there was a bathroom next to the room?" Rex challenged and picked up the box with the cartoon tiger on it.

"Yeah, I saw it this morning. I felt really stupid leaving the room last night looking for one. I wondered around the lab for a long time."

"Is that how you got the black eye?" Rex asked, gesturing to the blond's left eye. He had not been able to stop staring at it since Noah walked into the kitchen.

Noah looked startled by the question. "Uh, yep. I must have. Luckily Caesar found me and steered me in the right direction."

"That's odd since he just told me he hadn't seen you when I asked him this morning."

"Oh, well I haven't seen him this morning. Just for a moment last night," Noah replied and drank almost half of the water. "So what are your plans for the day?" he asked, changing the subject.

Rex abandoned his bowl and spoon as he sat directly across from Noah at the small round table. He wasn't feeling hungry anymore. "Noah, why can't you just tell me what's going on?" he demanded.

Noah frowned and slowly turned the glass on the table with his forefinger and thumb. "I don't know what you are talking about Rex. I told you I got this walking around the lab in the dark," he said gesturing to his left eye.

"You don't really expect me to believe that, do you?"

"You can believe whatever you like," Noah shot back and lifted the glass of water.

Rex watched Noah's usually handsome features become distorted thru the glass and water as the blond titled the glass to his lips. He tried to keep his building anger from showing. This was getting him nowhere, just like every conversation that he and Noah had whenever the topic of Noah's injuries came up. Rex could feel his frustration build and decided to release it by answering Noah's question.

"I have a training session with Six followed by a strategy briefing with Captain Callan. After that I have to show up for whatever biometric tests Holiday wants to perform on me today; and if there aren't any high level EVO attacks I should be free to hang out. I will send for you later," Rex said quickly before pushing his chair away from the table and headed for the door, leaving his best friend to stare after him.

00000

"Pay attention. Your focus is slipping," Six instructed as he knocked Rex onto his butt.

Rex grunted. "I am focused," Rex insisted and jumped to his feet.

"Maybe, but it is not on this fight," Six countered. He grabbed the sleeve of Rex's jacket and swung him around; Rex pivoted on his heel and slipped out of his jacket, leaving the top Agent with nothing but hands full of red jacket.

"How's that for focus?" Rex asked with a smirk.

"Better," Six conceded and then threw Rex's jacket at him.

Rex batted his jacket away and braced himself for the punch from the green clad ninja. Crossing his arms in front of his face he blocked Six's attack and pushed the older man away from him, putting some distance between the two of them. Rex built his BFS and went on the offensive. When he sees a small bruise on Six's throat something inside him. He froze giving Six the time to spin kick him into the wall. Rex slammed into the concrete wall and slid to the ground.

"How about we take a break," Six suggested, looking up into the observation deck of the training room. "Go get something to eat and meet me back here in an hour."

"But I-"

"I can tell that you haven't eaten today," Six said evenly. "You're slower and unable to focus. There is no point in me teaching you anything now."

The two men stared at each other for a while until Rex sighed and looked away. "Fine," he grumbled, getting up from the floor. "See you in an hour."

00000

It felt weird being released from morning training so soon. It rarely happened unless there was a sudden mission. Rex wasn't sure what to do with himself. He decided he should take Six's advice and find something to eat. He made his way back to his temporary room. Noah wasn't in and Rex wasn't sure if he was relieved that he wouldn't have to deal with his mysterious best friend or worried that Noah may be off doing something that could hurt him. Rex flopped on his bed and stared up at the ceiling.

Noah's bruises; they were all Rex could think about and now his best friend had a black eye. Rex wasn't sure which made him move upset; knowing that something or someone was causing them or that Noah refused to talk to him about it, because Rex didn't believe for a second that Noah had gotten his black eye from wandering around his brother's lab.

He was getting lost in his thoughts and turned over to his side hoping the new position would help his mind drift in a different, less frustrating direction. He steered his thoughts to his other friends. He wondered if Bobo had been successful in his attempt to destroy the banana shipment. Rex chuckled at the memory until Noah popped up, lightly teasing the primate with his cheerful voice and mocking smile.

_It always comes back to Noah¸ _Rex groaned and covered his eyes with his bare hands. "It's like I'm obsessed with him or something." Rex froze at his words. _Could it really be that this just an obsession with not knowing what is going on and not something that I should worry about? _Rex dismissed that thought. He was pissed off the Noah seemed to be keeping secrets from him again. It was true that Noah had told him to mind his own business, but seeing his friend covered in black and blue…He needed to figure out what was going on. The stress of not knowing was making him ineffectual at the one thing he was good at being; a fighter.

An idea went off in Rex's head in he quickly sat up in bed. He knew what he had to do. The idea fully formed in his head and he barked out in laughter at the simplicity of the answer. He only hoped Noah wouldn't be unable to forgive him for it.

000000

He met up with Noah later on that night at dinner. Noah had texted him telling Rex to meet him in the kitchenette for food. There on the small round table were two large plates of pasta with red sauce piled high with cheese. Rex smiled when he saw it. It was one of the first things Noah had cooked when he and Bobo had lived with him when HQ had been destroyed by Van Kleiss a few months ago.

"Oh wow, thanks, Noe," Rex said sitting in the same seat he had that morning. He took picked up the fork and twirled around and around the side gathering a small portion of pasta. He didn't bring it to his mouth though, instead he just sat there with his head bowed, staring absently at the food.

"Is it no good?" Noah asked, taking the seat opposite him.

"Hm?" Rex replied distractedly. He lifted his eyebrows and tilted his head in Noah's general direction but didn't look up from his plate.

"The pasta," Noah explained pointing his own fork at Rex's plate. "Is it not your liking?"

"Oh no, it's good. It's just that I don't have much of appetite tonight."

This earned him a worried look from Noah as the blond raised both eyebrows.

Rex dropped his fork and held up his hand. "I had a really lunch," he lied.

"Oh," Noah said, his face falling into a more natural expression as he returned to his dinner.

In a huff of frustration Rex put his fork down. "Noah?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry about this morning," Rex said, staring straight into Noah's eyes. He saw a flash of surprise in Noah's light blue eyes that was quickly replaced with a grin.

"I know," he said causally.

Rex laughed. He couldn't help it. All the frustration and anger melted away as he sat across from his best friend and shared a meal.

"What?" Noah asked, the corners of his lips turning down in confusion.

"Of course you do," he said, waving his fork. "No one knows me better than you, well except maybe Six.

Noah smile turned into a grin and he laughed as Rex's pasta slid off his fork and landed in the middle of the table. "If you know what's good for you better eat that," the blond threatened, nodding to the dropped food.

"Yeah, yeah," Rex said, leaning forward he stabbed the pasta with his fork and brought it to his mouth. He hummed in appreciation as he chewed the perfectly cooked pasta and suddenly his appetite returned.

"So, we're good?" he asked, flopping back into his chair.

"Yeah," Noah said his cheeks slightly pink as he watched Rex eat. "We're good."

00000

The feeling of uncertainty returned when they headed back to their shared room. Rex spent the next few hours wondering if he should scrap the idea of following Noah when he left the room that night. He didn't want to spoil the dinner by betraying Noah, but that didn't erase his need to know.

They played 'Rock, Paper, Scissors' to decide who got to shower first. Noah won, so Rex sat on his bed and stared unseeingly at the TV. A cable news channel was on. It was the usual report about whatever EVO Providence had taken down that day. He winced as he saw himself get slammed into a row of parked cars.

"That looked pretty painful." Noah said.

"I've seen worse," Rex said looking at Noah's black eye.

"Hmm," Noah replied and placed his towel over his head and started drying his hair. "Shower's free."

"Right," Rex said and stood up and avoided looking at Noah as he grabbed his bath things and went into the bathroom.

When he came out of his shower he found Noah curled up on his side already asleep. Whatever was going on it was draining him.

Rex flopped onto his bed and immediately turned on his side. He placed his finger on the wall and instructed his nanites to turn off the lights. Instantly the room was plunged into darkness, the only light came off of the TV screen. Rex listened to the male reporter promised an in depth conversation about why you should think twice about that morning jog.

He was startled awake at the sound of a truck commercial on the TV. He sat up and looked over at Noah. The blond was still asleep. Fumbling for the remote Rex lay back down and turned off the TV. He had almost gone back to sleep when he heard the bed springs on Noah's bed squeak softly as the blond shifted out of the bed.

"Rex?" Noah whispered harshly. Rex forced his face to remain neutral and tried to regulate his breathing as if he was in deep sleep. "Rex, can you hear me?"

Rex shifted his leg slightly and remained still. Even though his nerves were on edge it was easier to pretend to be asleep than Rex thought it would be.

A few seconds went by before Noah was satisfied that Rex wasn't going to wake up and move away from this bed and towards the door. There was a soft hiss as the air lock released and the door slid open and then close a few seconds later.

Rex lay there with his eyes closed and silently counted to ten before opening his eyes and sitting up in bed. The first thing he did was check the time. It was just after midnight. Rex pulled off his bed covers and pulled on his pants. He put on a new pair of socks, but left his boots off, they made too much noise. He edged to the door and activated it. He poked his head out and scanned the lab, looking for his friend. He saw the familiar yellow hair disappear in the corridor at the far left. Rex slipped out of the room and staying as close to the wall as he could he silently hurried after Noah.

It didn't take Rex long to realize Noah was heading towards Caesar's private office.

His brother's private office looked a lot like how his lab had looked yesterday. Scraps of metal and computer equipment were piled randomly around the room. In the corner was Caesar's cot and next to it was Caesar himself sitting at his desk typing away the keyboard has he stared at the monitor.

"I had a feeling that I would see you tonight," Caesar said to Noah without looking up from the screen.


	5. Five

**WARNING:This chapter contains some sexual content between a minor male (age 17) and an adult male (age 26); it also contains adult language. Hooray!**

**Detour**

**Five**

"I had a feeling that I would see you tonight," Caesar said without looking up from the screen.

"I hope it was a good feeling," Noah replied.

"Oh, most definitely," he reassured with a quick nod of his head. "I don't have to tell you how much I enjoy your companionship."

Noah snorted and leaned over Caesar's shoulder. "So, what are you working on?"

"That's classified," Caesar warned and turned off the monitor.

"Of course it is," Noah replied with a smile.

Rex heard the squeak of Caesar's chair as he turned to look at Noah. "That's healing nicely," Caesar commented gesturing to Noah's eye.

"Yeah, I've been drinking a lot of orange juice and Doc Holiday gave me some vitamins to help boost up the healing process."

"Good thinking," Caesar nodded in approval and moved his hand down to gently caress Noah's cheek. "I'm really sorry about that, sometimes I can get carried away."

Rex blinked in confusion._ How blind can I be?_ He thought looking at his own wrist. There was a slight discoloration where Caesar had grabbed him the day before. Caesar was the one who had been hurting Noah; _his Noah_! Rex started seeing red. He could feel his nanites reacting, the build for his Big Fat Sword sprang into his head and for a wild moment Rex imagined what his brother would look like without hands.

Or a head.

Until he heard Noah's laugh.

"Don't worry about it, besides I think I'm growing to like a rougher touch," Noah admitted placing a hand over Caesar's.

"Is that so?" Caesar asked, smirking at the blond. "And how often do you think that?"

Rex didn't like the glint in his brother's eye as he looked at Noah; almost as much as he disliked the look the blond gave Caesar in return.

Noah laughed once, a light bubbly sound. "As often as I can," he replied and grabbed Caesar's jacket with his free hand. "You want to start were we left off last night?"

Rex had to place a hand over his mouth to stifle the gasp that threatened to escape him as shock coursed thru him as he watched his brother and his best friend. Rex exhaled heavily through his nose, the breath heating his ungloved hands.

"Not tonight, Mr. Nixon," Caesar said and placed his hands over Noah's. He gently pried the blond's hands off his jacket placed them at Noah's side. "I don't know if that is a good idea."

"Why not?" Noah asked sounding pensive. Rex could see his brother look at Noah's left eye and frowned. "Because of this?"

"Yes," Caesar stated plainly. "I wasn't making a joke when I said that I sometimes get carried away."

"You promised me that you would train me whenever I had the time. I knew that meant that I would get hurt. But I am getting better."

"I don't dispute that, but you have to let your body recover or you could really hurt yourself. I think we should take a break tonight. Besides, I don't…"

Rex frowned as Caesar cut himself off and gently touched Noah's brow.

"You don't like seeing me hurt," Noah finished for him.

"It is not one of my favorite sights, no," Caesar admitted and leaned down to kiss the blond.

Rex took a step out from behind his hiding place to defend Noah when Noah tilt his head to the side and got on his tip toe in order to kiss Caesar back.

Rex felt like he had been punched in the stomach. His eyes went wide and his breath left him. He thought learning that Noah had been secretly training with Caesar had been enough of a surprise and now he had to deal with the fact that there was obviously something going on between his best friend and his brother. Rex bit his mouth at the sight and sound of his friend.

They parted and Noah smiled at the older Salazar. "Okay, fine. You win, no training. Does it mean that we have time for more fun things?"

Caesar smiled. "You're so eager tonight," he observed and started trailing kisses over Noah's exposed skin.

"You have no idea," Noah moaned in agreement and pulled Caesar into another kiss.

Rex moved back into the shadows and tried to make sense of what he was seeing. Noah had been going to see Caesar for training and other stuff. Why and how long had this been going on? Rex wondered. He looked back over to Noah and Caesar as he heard the sound of a zipper being undone. His eyes widened as he saw that they had moved away from the desk and had made their way to Caesar's cot. Their lips remained pressed together as Noah pulled on the sleeves of Caesar's brown coat. Rex watched as the mad genius quickly shrugged out of the jacket and dumped it onto the tiled floor, forgotten as Noah moved onto Caesar's black tee shirt. Rex heard their shared panting as they broke apart for a moment to allow for both of them to take off their shirts. He felt panic build in the pit of his stomach and start to rise into his chest as Noah's shirt landed near him. He pressed himself against the wall, held his breath and prayed he wasn't spotted.

Rex needed to leave and he needed to do it now before the couple saw him. He didn't want to see this. It was enough of a betrayal to know that his brother and Noah were doings things together behind his back; he didn't need to know what they did in detail. He turned his head to the far right and spotted the door. It wasn't too far away, but to Rex is seemed as if it were a mile away. He was going to have to inch his way slowly towards to exit. It would be tedious but Rex knew that was his best bet. He placed a hand on the wall and used it to guide him. He froze at the sound of Noah moaning and a satisfied grunt from his brother. He started to turn his head to look but then closed his eyes at the last moment. _I really need to get the fuck out of here. _He moved a bit faster now, step by step he drew closer to the door. He had almost made it...And then Noah sniffed. Rex looked back and saw that Noah had moved away from Caesar and had covered his face with his hands.

"You okay?" The topless Caesar asked.

Noah nodded slowly and lowered his hands, but kept his eyes closed.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Noah shook his head.

Caesar sighed heavily and sat back on his haunches. "He must have really screwed up this time." He observed and placed a hand on Noah's knee.

Noah's eyes snapped open to look at Caesar. Rex could no longer see Noah's face as he looked at his brother but guessed that Caesar didn't like what he saw since he held Noah close to him. "What did my oblivious little brother do this time?" Caesar asked, kissing Noah's wet cheek.

"Nothing," Noah admitted. "It's me who is messed up."

"And how are you messed up?" Rex heard the mild interest in Caesar's voice and leaned forward a bit to hear him better.

"It's just, I really hate lying to him about the training and about us," the blond teen admitted.

"And your feelings for my little brother," Caesar added stoically.

Noah nodded curtly. "I already have a shaky track record when it comes to being honest with him and if he ever found out about this…" Noah trailed off, unable to finish his thought.

"It must be harder for you than it is for me."

"How?"

"I remind you so much of Rex, granted not in the way that counts," Caesar amended. "You are so different from Six that there is almost no comparison."

"Oh gee, thanks," Noah said, reaching behind him he pulled a flat pillow and threw it at him. It hit Caesar in the chest then landed on his lap.

"I didn't mean that in a bad way," Caesar admitted, pulling the pillow away from his lap and reached out for Noah. "Come here," The blond moved over and Caesar pulled him onto his lap. They shared a kiss and Rex felt his face heat up. He was learning so much about Noah and Caesar and he wasn't sure what to do with the new information. He really should have left the moment he spotted them, but somehow he had forgotten how his legs worked. "You don't need to explain anything to me, remember? It's like I told you when we first started this, I'm your detour. You wanted Rex but couldn't have him so you're taking a detour to someone who does."

Noah nodded and raised a hand. Caesar mirrored the motion and raised his hand. Their palms touched and Noah intertwined their fingers.

"You are my detour to Rex and I'm you're detour to Six."

"Yes, of course, I'm in love with Six," Caesar answered slowly as though he had to remind himself.

Rex had a feeling that Caesar had more feelings for Noah than he was letting on and was suddenly angry at his brother; Noah was his. Rex felt himself blush as at the thought. He was surprised at how strong his reaction was. It was strange, Noah wanted him in a way that Rex had never thought he would. _And to think I was jealous of Rodney,_ Rex scoffed, but then covered his mouth with his hand. He waited holding his breath to see if the couple had heard him but they were too engrossed in their conversation to notice him.

"When I am with you I don't think of him as much, which was the point of our arrangement. It's so easy for me to forget him and enjoy your company. I can just be in the moment with you. But I know that you can't help but think of Rex when you're with me."

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," Noah whispered, resting his forehead on the scientist's shoulder.

"I'm not. You're a good kid Noah and an excellent sexual partner."

Noah chuckled and removed his head from Caesar's shoulder and kissed him.

"Thank you, Caesar." Noah said and lightly tracing Caesar's chest. Caesar wrapped his arms around Noah's shoulders and held to blond close to him.

"You are welcome, but I meant what I said, if Rex can't see what you have to offer, than he is an idiot."

Noah didn't say anything as he accepted the hug.

"We should get some sleep," Caesar said, gently laying Noah down on the cot. The blond nodded in agreement.

"But in a minute," Noah said and reached up to pull Caesar's face down so he could kiss him again.

Rex looked away. He had seen more than enough. He wanted to break down the door and take Noah away from his brother, but he wasn't sure why. It wasn't as if he felt about Noah the same way the blond obviously felt for him. But he couldn't help but feel betrayed somehow. Noah couldn't trust him to tell him that he preferred the company of men but had no problem being so open with his brother. What was he supposed to do with that information? He couldn't ignore it, but he had no one else to turn to. He could go to Six but if he did he risked exposing Caesar as well. Some part of him wanted Caesar to pay for being so close to Noah but he knew that would only make things worse, even if it made him feel better.

There was a bunch of noise as the two men shifted on the small cot. Rex took this opportunity to make it to the door and quietly closed.

Rex left; his mind was a whirlwind of shock at what he had witnessed between his brother and his best friend. He wandered down the halls in a daze. Did Noah really want to do that with him? Did Rex want to? He couldn't even begin to start thinking about that. He retreated to his room and used his nanites to lock the door.

He stalked over to his bed and lay down fully clothed on his back and pulled the blankets up to his chin. He forced himself to breath; to forget everything he had just seen and heard. The only problem with trying to forget something was that it just made him relive it in his mind's eye.

He heard Noah's gasps and groans as the sounds replayed over and over. Rex covered his face with his hands and exhaled trying to expel the sounds from his mind.

Rex started to drift off to sleep when he thought;

What was going to happen to them now?

000000


	6. Six

**Detour**

**Six**

Noah wasn't in the room when Rex woke up the next morning. Rex wasn't sure what to think about that, a part of him wanted to confront Noah as soon as possible about his _arrangement _with Caesar, while at the same time he wanted to forget everything from last night. Rex remained in bed, lying under the covers starting at the boring white ceiling as he thought of his next move.

_This is so messed up;_ he thought dismally and burrowed further down in the blankets.

The familiar swish sound of the door sliding open filled the room and Rex craned his head to see who it was and wished he hadn't.

"You're still in bed." Noah commented walking into the room.

"Yep," Rex grunted sleepily and turned over onto his side. He pushed the covers over his head, blocking out the light and muffling the sound of Noah footsteps as he walked around the room. The teenaged EVO felt his heart rate increase as Noah walked past his bed to the one he had not slept in in the last two days.

"Fine, stay in bed that means I can have the first shower and use all the hot water." Noah teased. Rex heard Noah grunt softly as something hit him in the head. Rex removed the blanket to see a crumpled pillow lying next to him. Instead of throwing the pillow back at Noah the teenaged EVO decided to keep it.

"Oh great now I've lost a pillow."

_What does it matter when you don't even sleep in the bed? _Rex thought darkly but then stiffened when he heard the sound of Noah walking near his bed. Images of last night flashed in his mind and he hugged the pillow to him.

He tensed up again when even more weight landed on him. Rex felt the blanket shift and Noah's blond head come into view. "Are you trying to avoid me?" Noah asked a bright teasing smile on his lips.

"No," Rex said turning his face away. "I just like sleeping in on Sundays."

"Dude, I'm leaving today. I can't believe you'd rather sleep through the last few hours of my visit than hang out," Noah pouted and rested more of his weight on Rex.

Rex groaned and looked back at this friend, he had a point. "Alright fine, I'm getting up."

"Sweet," Noah said cheerfully, leaning back. "You can start with brushing your teeth."

"Haha," Rex breathed into Noah's face.

"Ugh, gross." Noah covered his mouth and nose with his hand.

The motion made his eyes stand out more than usual and Rex noticed that Noah's eye was less purple than it had been yesterday. Before he could stop himself Rex reached out and touched the side of Noah's face. "You eye, it looks a lot better today."

Rex watched as Noah's blue-green eyes widened and he moved back from Rex as if he had burned him. "Thanks," he replied his face going slightly red.

"Oh sorry," Rex said feeling his own face heat up and he lowered his hand.

"It's fine. It's just sensitive." Noah explained and lightly touched his brow.

An awkwardness fell between them and Rex couldn't stop his heart from tightening as Noah looked away from him and got off the bed.

Rex followed him and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He quickly ran his hands over his face and through his hair. "So what do you want to do?" he asked with a yawn.

"Rex, is everything okay?"

"What?" Rex jumped and spun around obviously startled.

Noah looked at his friend, his eyebrow quirked up in confusion at the EVOs behavior. "Rex, what's wrong? You're jumpier than normal."

"No, I'm not." Rex insisted then shrieked as someone banged on the door. The door moved aside but there was no one there. "So, then what do you want to do?" Rex asked, turning away from the door.

Noah's expression changed from curious suspicion to pleasant surprise as he pulled out the newest first person shooter game from the depths of his green jacket pocket.

00000

Rex watched as Noah inserted the game into the game console. The motion made the blond's shirt ride up enough for Rex to see the finger sized bruises on Noah's side. Rex shivered as he studied them. The thought of Noah being hurt made him sick. Only now he knew how Noah had gotten them. It was Caesar who touched Noah; hurt Noah. Now it made sense why Noah hadn't reported the bruises and why he had been horrified when Rex saw them. Noah enjoyed it; Noah wanted Rex. Rex imagined how he would feel if the positions were reverse. If he wanted Noah but couldn't have him would he go to Noah's brother and start a tryst with him in order to block out the pain of not being with Noah? The thoughts made his head throb and he had to lean back and close his eyes.

"You ready?" Noah asked excitedly passing Rex the blue controller.

Rex gave him his biggest smile and took the controller. "You bet."

00000

Rex itched to ask Noah about what it was he had seen, but wasn't sure how to go about starting that conversation. That didn't stop him from occasionally looking over at Noah's profile. It looked distorted in the soft lighting of the television. He waited until the game started playing a cut scene, before he put it on pause.

"You want to take a break from getting your ass kicked?" Noah asked with a laugh and put his game controller down on the coffee table.

"Say Noah," Rex started, ignoring Noah's question. His voice sounded hollow and strained in his ears and he took a moment to clear his throat. "Noah?"

The blond looked over to his friend a small frown appearing at the corners of his mouth as he took in Rex's serious demeanor. "Rex?" Noah responded in the same tone.

"We're friends right?"

"Of course; best friends," Noah amended with a small smile. It looked a bit sad to Rex and he steeled himself for what was coming next.

"I agree," Rex nodded his head and stared at Noah's blackened eye.

Noah leveled an eye at Rex. "Rex, what's going on? Are you okay?"

"You know that you can tell me anything, right? I mean if you tell me it's something serious I won't poke fun at you or tease you about it." Rex paused and licked his lips. Already the heat that had been with him since Noah stepped into the room had risen several degrees. He felt like he was suffocating. It was only a matter of time to before he couldn't hold back the anxiety and blurted out … "I saw you."

Noah's face scrunched up in confusion before smoothing out in amusement. "Rex, what are you talking about?" he asked with a laugh.

Rex blinked in shock this wasn't the response he was expecting. He made his face neutral and started again. "I saw you with Caesar yesterday. I know what you two do…to each other."

The smile in Noah's face fell and his eyes grew large as Rex's words sunk in.

"And I know why you do it," the Hispanic EVO added.

"You followed me?" Noah asked, his voice going high in surprise and growing anger. Noah stood up and towered over Rex. "You had no right to follow me," he said pointing a finger at Rex's chest.

Rex frowned, his anger rising to match Noah's. He, too, stood up. "I was worried about you, okay? Every time I see you you've got a new bruise or a black eye and you won't talk to me Noe. What did you think I would do?"

"Oh, I don't know; trust me!"

Rex opened his mouth but then closed it. "Oh."

"God, you make me so…" Noah started but then sighed in frustration and turned away from the EVO. "I'm going home," he stated. "This was a bad idea."

"So you still won't talk to me even though I know now?"

Noah stilled. "I have nothing to say to you."

"Fine then, don't say anything:" Rex said opening his arms. "Hit me, scream at me, do whatever you want with me, but don't do this, don't turn away from me."

Noah stared at him, his eyes shifting from side to side as he searched Rex's face. For what, Rex wasn't sure, maybe making sure that he wasn't playing a trick on Noah. Rex remained motionless and waited for Noah to make his move.

"Anything I want?" He questioned walking to Rex.

"Yes," Rex nodded and closed his eyes, bracing himself for the hit that never came.

He flinched as he felt Noah's arms wrap around his chest and his head rest on his shoulder.

"Noe?" he asked, his breath leaving him. His eyes snapped open and his body tensed.

Noah responded by squeezing Rex tighter. "Just let me...just this once…" he started but trailed off as he kissed the side of Rex's neck. Heat radiated from the points where Noah had touched him and Rex tried to suppress a shiver as the blond's hair tickled under his nose. "I may never get another chance."

Rex felt his breath start to pick up as Noah kissed his throat right at the Adam's apple. "I love you," Noah whispered.

A shiver went thru Rex and it wasn't entirely unpleasant. "Noe, I-"

Noah silenced Rex by lighting pressing his lips on his. Despite the avalanche of emotions washing over him Rex was frozen, his lips unresponsive as his best friend kissed him.

Rex realized Noah was shaking and automatically wrapped his arms around the shorter teen.

Noah exhaled harshly and pulled away. "There, I'm done," he promised as he stepped back to look his friend in the eye.

Rex could see that Noah was waiting for him to say anything; for Rex to admonish him for his desires or maybe even a returned declaration. It was painful for him to watch the hope in his friend's eyes fade until there was nothing felt but regret and loss. Noah eyes squinted and Rex could tell that he was trying to hold back tears.

"Right then, thank you Rex, I couldn't have asked for a better goodbye." Noah said and walked to the door.

Rex did nothing as the door opened and closed as the only person who had told him out right that he loved him. The sound of Noah's confession rang in his ears and the pressure of the kiss made his lips tingle.

It was when the door sealed shut was a finite click that Rex snapped back to reality. The next thing he knew he had built his fist and had burst thru the door. "Noah!" he yelled and raced thru the lab to catch up to Noah.

When he did, he hugged Noah from behind in full view of anyone who walked passed or was looking at the hallway's security cam. This fact didn't escape Rex as he held Noah to him.

"Thank you, Noe, for loving me and I'm sorry," Rex said. "I don't know if I love you the way that you love me, but I do know that I don't want to lose you. You are my best friend and that's not nothing. If that's what love is then I guess that I love-"

He felt Noah place his hands over Rex's arms. "Rex, please don't feel like you have to force yourself to love me because you are afraid you'll lose me. I wasn't leaving forever, just for now. I need some time to figure things out, just like you need time to sort out your feelings."

Rex placed his forehead on the back of Noah's neck and sighed heavily as the blond's words sank in. He tightened his hold around Noah and then released him. Noah turned around.

"See ya around?" Rex asked hopefully.

Noah gave him a quick nod and a weak smile. "Yeah, see ya."

* * *

><p>Sorry for the short chapter, but it is better than no chapter at all, right?<p> 


End file.
